Samsung Galaxy S4 Vs. Galaxy S4 Active: Specs, Hands-on Video

Samsung Galaxy S4 vs. Galaxy S4 Active: Specs, Hands-on video

BY Rajesh Pandey

Rajesh Pandey

Rajesh is a 26-year old freelance writer from Kolkata, India. He loves to tinker around with his Android devices and flash custom ROMs on them....

All Articles by Rajesh Pandey

Published 21 Jun 2013

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The Galaxy S4 Active is a rugged high-end smartphone from Samsung. The handset is IP67 certified, which means it is dust-resistant and water-proof in 1m of water for up to 30mins.

Thanks largely to its rugged nature; the S4 Active has a slightly different design than usually seen on the Galaxy series. Thankfully, the S4 Active sticks to its branding, and packs in some beefy internals. Below is a spec-by-spec comparison of the Galaxy S4 vs. the Galaxy S4 Active.

	Samsung Galaxy S4	Samsung Galaxy S4 Active
Processor	Quad-core 1.9GHz Snapdragon S600 SoC	Quad-core 1.9GHz Snapdragon S600 SoC
RAM/Storage	2GB RAM, 16GB of internal storage with around 9GB available	2GB RAM, 16GB of internal storage with around 9GB available
Display	4.99-inch Super-AMOED Full HD (1920*1080)	4.99-inch TFT LCD Full HD (1920*1080)
Camera	13MP	8MP
Battery Capacity	2600mAh removable battery	2600mAh removable battery
Android version	Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with Nature UX v2.0	Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with Nature UX
Software features	S-Health, Smart Pause, Smart Scroll, Air View, S Translator, Air Gesture, Smart Stay, KNOX, Adapt Display, Adapt Sound	S-Health, Smart Pause, Smart Scroll, Air View, S Translator, Air Gesture, Smart Stay, KNOX, Adapt Display, Adapt Sound
Sensors	IR blaster, Temperature sensor, Barometer, Humidity sensor and the usual bunch like Proximity sensor etc.	IR blaster, Temperature sensor, Barometer, Humidity sensor and the usual bunch like Proximity sensor etc.

As you can see from the comparison above, the Galaxy S4 Active is truly a rugged variant of the Galaxy S4. The only downgrade is the camera, whose resolution has been reduced from 13MP to 8MP.

For some, the shift to a LCD screen instead of a AMOLED screen might be a bummer as well, but Samsung is known for making excellent LCD displays as well so this should not really be an issue. Overall, the Galaxy S4 Active is a much better phone, at least specifications wise than its competition – the Sony Xperia Z.